1973 Dodge Charger - Starting Over . . . Again

Here we go again. How often have you said that when starting another project? In the Bolig household, it seems that statement is made far too often, but again, we work on cars for the enjoyment, right?

We got many replies about the '73 Charger when we first introduced it. Many said to get it done as soon as possible, and others said we're nuts. As true as the latter may be from time to time, that wasn't our motivation in this instance.

For years, post-'70 cars have been overlooked, but now are finally getting noticed. Another thing to keep in mind: Since the cars that others consider collectible are most times out of reach, this is the perfect platform a Young Gun can use to get into a Mopar. Completely redesigned in 1971, the Charger was actually shorter than its predecessor, but became slightly wider. Our version is a '73 model, definitely not built during the Performance Years. One thing that did surprise us about this car was the production numbers. In 1973, there were a lot of Chargers built, but only 40 of them had the 400HP and four-speed combination-this is one of them. Lucky for our Young Gun, the car actually has some sort of a pedigree. Since the original engine and transmission are long gone, that gives us a little flexibility with the restoration.

The first thing we needed to do was to get the car stripped to see what we have to work with. With the garage full, we were relegated to working on the car under a portable canopy in the backyard. It could've be worse; the yard could've been muddy. We gutted the interior and removed all the exterior pieces (doors, fenders, bumpers, wiring, and windshield). While removing the interior, we found some rust inside that we will need to address, but nothing that can't be fixed. Some of the rust on the exterior of the body may be a little harder to fix, but we'll show you that later.

So we're underway. The Young Guns Charger has secured its place in line for rebuilding, and you can now see what we are starting with.